Many video games offer a "free demo" version, particularly on the consoles. Most commonly this version will just have the beginning of the game up to a certain point, so that you can get a good picture of what the game is like, and to entice you to buy it in order to continue from where it stops. And, indeed, if the game is actually good and addictive, and you get hooked, it really gives motivation to buy it to continue.
The 2023 game Forspoken, which became slightly infamous for having garnered some hype before launch but in the end turning out to be quite a disappointment, did something rather different with its free demo version.
Rather than do what most other games do, ie. just start from the beginning as normal, as in the full game, it skipped all the (what I understand to be relatively lengthy) introductory levels, storyline and tutorials, and started well into the game. In other words, completely skipping the start of the story, the setting, the idea.
I don't actually know much about the details of the story (because the demo doesn't show it!) and I have only seen a bit of a playthrough of the full game on YouTube, but it does start in the "normal" world with a "normal" person, and then stuff happens and magic happens or something, and the protagonist ends up in this fantasy world that's a free-roaming open world where she has all kinds of abilities and superpowers or something.
But the thing is, because the demo completely skips those introductory parts and drops you directly into this fantasy free-roaming open world with all your powers already gained, and with just brief tutorials on how to use them, it ends up being extremely confusing.
The demo does not indicate in any way, shape or form that this isn't the actual beginning of the full game, but that a lot has been skipped. It just launches in that open world, doesn't explain anything, doesn't show anything, doesn't explain the setting or the story or anything. It ends up being very confusing. I was thinking like "what is this? What's happening here?" I actually didn't realize that that wasn't actually the real beginning of the game but that the demo just skipped all that. It was only afterwards that I suspected it, and then corroborated it by checking a walkthrough youtube video.
I understand what they were trying to do with this demo: They were not enticing you with the beginning of the story which explains the setting. They were trying to entice you with the full gameplay after you have acquired all your powers (or whatever they were). Give a taste of the full gameplay mechanics.
The main problems, however, were that the demo didn't explain this or make this in any way clear, which made it very confusing, and that the full open world gameplay was boring. Controls felt unpolished, all the myriads of powers were confusing (because there had not been any practical tutorials on how to use them), and it was not very enjoyable to play, and the demo didn't really give you an incentive to.
I'm not even kidding that it was only my suspicion that "this isn't the actual beginning of the game" that made me check on YouTube if I was correct. The demo itself didn't indicate this in any way, shape or form, and was very confusing because of it.
I have not played the beginning of the game because I don't have the full game, but I'm somewhat convinced that if this had been a more traditional demo version, ie. one where you just start from the beginning as normal, it would have been more enticing, especially if the story and setting are interesting (although I suspect they are not. The bad reviews and bad reputation probably exist for a reason.)
Comments
Post a Comment